Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

I'm still reading the whole piece, noticed the Scientific American in the 
grocery. It needs commenting on so I'll report back soon.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 6/17/2008 at 9:20 PM Tradingpost wrote:

>*** from Scientific American magazine
>
>June, 2008
>No-Till: How Farmers Are Saving the Soil by Parking Their Plows
>
>The age-old practice of turning the soil before planting a new crop is a
>leading cause of farmland degradation. Many farmers are thus looking to
>make plowing a thing of the past
>http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=no-till
>By John P. Reganold and David R. Huggins
>
>
>Key Concepts
>
>    * Conventional plow-based farming leaves soil vulnerable to erosion
>and promotes agricultural runoff.
>    * Growers in some parts of the world are thus turning to a sustainable
>approach known as no-till that minimizes soil disturbance.
>    * High equipment costs and a steep learning curve, among other
>factors, are hindering widespread adoption of no-till practices.
>
>John Aeschliman turns over a shovelful of topsoil on his 4,000-acre farm
>in the Palouse region of eastern Washington State. The black earth
>crumbles easily, revealing a porous structure and an abundance of organic
>matter that facilitate root growth. Loads of earthworms are visible,
>too—another healthy sign.
>
>Thirty-four years ago only a few earthworms, if any, could be found in a
>spadeful of his soil. Back then, Aeschliman would plow the fields before
>each planting, burying the residues from the previous crop and readying
>the ground for the next one. The hilly Palouse region had been farmed that
>way for decades. But the tillage was taking a toll on the Palouse, and its
>famously fertile soil was eroding at an alarming rate. Convinced that
>there had to be a better way to work the land, Aeschliman decided to
>experiment in 1974 with an emerging method known as no-till farming.
>
>entire article online for paid subscribers
>
>
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